Wolf is a war veteran who recounts the tale of his legendary youth to a young upstart killer. Flashback to a post-World War 2 time when the young Wolf is wandering the Chinese countryside in search of his missing memories. He only knows to meet someone at an abandoned temple. He ends up hooking up with a local villager, who intends to guide the Wolf to his destination. On the way, they find Wai-Yee, who’s been waiting for Wolf for quite some time. However, Wolf still can’t remember anything, until the bad guys come to find him, and they bear the terrible secret of the Wolf's past.
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The story is not that interesting so forget about it! The performances from the actors are quite well! There is no shortage of humor and there is even some drama. But this movie isn't about the drama it is about the fighting scenes! It may take a while to get used to the very fast display of action! But when you do you will be hooked. The martial arts performed especially by Donnie Yen is more than top notch! It is a showcase for him what he is capable of! He produced,directed and wrote the movie and choreographed the action! And in this he really excels!. The action is explosive! He tries to be different in filming the action scenes and we have to give credit to that! You will question if he used tricks or fast editing but somehow it all looks like they are really fighting that fast! The result is that he created action scenes you won't easily forget! "Legend of wolf" is a movie you will have to see for the wonderful action!
Legend of the Wolf Chinese Action Donnie YenThe poor-quality of this film can be adequately summarized by the following statement made by a proponent of this movie on IMDb: "Donnie Yen puts in what seems to be a new type of choreographic brilliance. This involves some quite close in shots of the two opponents arms flailing as they block and parry. So blurred are the movements that only the sound effects give us clues as to the blocking and hitting. It works very well."This is perhaps the most absurd movie-related comment I have ever seen, but it very succinctly explains the warped perspective of many who hold the opinion that films such as this (as well as Storm Riders, A Man Called Hero, and Ashes of Time ) offer high-quality action set pieces. The illogic goes something like this: A blurry set of camera frames that are impossible to follow qualifies as a great action scene. The problem with this perspective is that ANYONE even the most inept movie-maker on the planet can make such a scene fairly easily. The million dollar question now arises: How can one claim the greatness of action that requires virtually no effort whatsoever to create?Why, then, do I give this film a 4 out of 10 instead of a 1 or 2? Simple. There are pieces of action scenes that show promise. In those rare instances when I could follow what was actually happening, the choreography was good. Unfortunately, these bits of promise were interrupted by inept camera-work that is usually invoked when the movie-maker is too lazy to painstakingly map out fight scenes or brainstorm over fresh combinations of moves and maneuvers. In other words, it's a cheap, pathetic method of film-making that covers up the low quality nature of the action at hand. Therefore, Donnie Yen made it easy on himself by lowering the bar to such an extent that fighting sequences will only require a marginal amount of choreography. The camera-work in this film is simply one of the worst I have ever seen. While watching the opening action sequence, for instance, I literally felt like vomiting when exposed to back-and-forth rapid-fire framing that necessitates a warning on the front of the DVD that this film may induce epileptic seizures.Finally, the plot line was horrible and the cinematography sub par for a movie made in the late 90s.Not recommended.
"New Big Boss" / "Legend Of The Wolf" is certainly an ambitious film. With its flashbacks-within-flashbacks, occasionally philosophical dialogue, a passionate love scene, a constant "poetic" music score, etc., it's obvious that Donnie Yen was trying to make something more than a simple martial-arts film. Unfortunately, he bit off more than he could chew, and the result is awful. You know something is wrong when a movie is 3/4 of the way over and you still haven't got a clue what's going on! I could easily put up with all this arty crap if there was at least some good action. But most of the fight scenes in this movie are laughably excessive (Yen runs through entire armies of villains like the Tazmanian Devil, punching people left and right), and even those that could potentially be good (like one where the opponent has chains wrapped around his right arm, or the final showdown) are spoiled by the cartoon-like, hokey sound effects. To say that this is "the greatest martial-arts movie of all time" is downright preposterous.
Recently, they released this movie in Occidental under the name of The Big Boss, so check it out. One of Donnie Yen's best. I really feel sorry that he is not as famous as Jet Li. The man has got a much better look than Jet Li and he is just as spectacular. He deserves to be known. If only a good director will give him a chance to be the lead star. He appeared in Blade II as Snowman. About that film, I really think the director underused Donnie Yen. He would be cool playing the bad guy, the vampire. And a fight between him and Weslet Snipes would be super-mega-cool. Other great martial artists : Mark Dacascos(Crying free man, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Drive), Man Cheuk Chiu(another descendant from Shaolin, like Jet Li, movies: Once upon a time in China IV & V). These guys only need a chance to prove to the occidental viewers how great they can be. My greatest dream ever is to have a movie starring :Mark Dacascos,Man Cheuk Chiu, Donnie Yen, Jet Li and Wesley Snipes. YEAH!!! I would pay 100$ a ticket just to see that movie.
